The present invention relates to an equipment or apparatus which is operable when assembling therein an external unit such as a cartridge and a cassette.
One typical example of an external unit is a cassette or a cartridge which is assemblable into an image recording medium. Such cartridge may be an ink ribbon cassette or a process cartridge for use in a typewriter and a printer, a toner cartridge, and a rolled image recording medium for use in an image recording apparatus or a copying machine.
Referring to the rolled image recording medium, it may be a photosensitive pressure sensitive image recording medium when a transfer type image recording medium is used for forming a latent image on the medium. Alternatively, the image recording medium may be a self-contained type image recording medium on which a visible image is finally provided thereon. These images are only obtainable when the sheet cartridge is assembled into an image recording apparatus or a copying machine and is used in cooperation with ambient mechanical and optical components.
The self-contained type image recording medium is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,440,846 in which an encapsulated chromogenic material or dye precursor and a developer material are co-deposited on one surface of a single substrate as one layer or as two contiguous layers. Further, the transfer type image recording medium is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,399,209 wherein the developer material is coated on a separate substrate as a separate developer or copy sheet. More specifically, in the transfer type recording medium, it includes a first image recording medium and a second image recording recording medium. The first medium comprises a photosensitive pressure sensitive recording medium provided with microcapsules encapsulating therein a first material (chromogenic material) having first and second phases dependent on light exposure. The second image recording medium comprises a developer medium provided with a second material (developer material) which provides an output visible image upon reaction with the first material.
As is well known, the printer cannot perform its printing operation unless the external unit such as the ink ribbon cassette is assembled in the printer. Similarly, the image recording apparatus or copying machine cannot perform its image recording operation unless the sheet cartridge is assembled in the apparatus.
Generally, the above-described image recording mediums may provide variations in characteristics such as photosensitivity and pressure sensitivity due to difference in production methods dependent on each manufacturer. Therefore, when operating the image recording apparatus, an operator should select optimum sheet cartridge best available for the apparatus, which optimum sheet cartridge may be produced by the manufacturer who also makes the image recording apparatus, or the cartridge may be supplied under assurance or warranty by the manufacturer. The same is true with respect to other types of equipment which require exchangeable cartridge or cassette.
However, according to a conventional equipment, if an improper cartridge such as an imitation or counterfeit having degraded characteristics is inadvertently assembled into the equipment, the apparatus may be operated to provide a low quality output, such as low quality visible image. As a result, good will of the manufacture may decline. Alternatively, if an improper cartridge is used, the apparatus may become inoperable.